High-definition blood test may become comparable to biopsy

An advanced blood analysis that detects and evaluates circulating tumor cells in cancer patients provides information that could soon be comparable to that obtained from some types of biopsies.

Called HD-CTC (high-definition circulating tumor cell), the new test labels cells in a person's blood sample to identify possible CTCs in advanced cancer. A digital microscope and an image-processing algorithm are then used to isolate suspect cells, allowing the pathologist to examine cell images, eliminate false-positives, and note cell morphologies, as a surgical biopsy does.

Peter Kuhn, PhD, an associate professor at The Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, California, led the team of oncologists and others who developed and tested the HD-CTC technology. The scientists published their results in five papers in Physical Biology (2012;9:016001-016005), all freely available and accompanied by an editorial coauthored by Kuhn (2012;9:01030; http://iopscience.iop.org/1478-3975/9/1/010301/pdf/1478-3975_9_1_010301.pdf), who noted in a separate statement that the test significantly boosts the ability to monitor, predict, and understand cancer progression, including metastasis.